Texas Winter Cancel

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

Winter is over folks.

It never really got started for us south of SA.

Spring time ahead. Carry on.

[gboudx]

Is this for all of Texas or just one geographic region? Because, Texas is so big, it's like a whole other country.

[lrak]

After kicking my tire, I'll have to agree its all over. One thing I'll wait on before planting is to see a few buds on my Mesquite trees. The trees are a great indicator for "winter over" down in S. Texas.

I sure like surprises though!

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

After kicking my tire, I'll have to agree its all over. One thing I'll wait on before planting is to see a few buds on my Mesquite trees. The trees are a great indicator for "winter over" down in S. Texas.

I sure like surprises though!

They'll be budding by the end of the month if not alot sooner, like next week.

My spring planting will start this Saturday.

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

Is this for all of Texas or just one geographic region? Because, Texas is so big, it's like a whole other country.

The whole state. Even Amarillo hasn't exactly been buried by snow this year. But they've been know to have some good snowstorms in March and even April up there, so we'll let them slide for awhile. Anywhere south of I-20 can pretty much cancel winter, IMO.

[Ed Mahmoud]

I bet it snows sometime in the next month in Dalhart. OK, it is about 700 miles from here and about 4,000 feet in elevation, but it is in Texas.

No snow predicted next two weeks, but GFS does show a Valentine's morning low of 22ºF.

[Portastorm]

Portastorm puts both hands on the poker table and shoves all his chips to the kitty in the middle.

I'm in. Winter south of I-20 in Texas, whatever it was, is over. What a sorry, pathetic season.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Portastorm puts both hands on the poker table and shoves all his chips to the kitty in the middle.

I'm in. Winter south of I-20 in Texas, whatever it was, is over. What a sorry, pathetic season.

You forget the December 10th snow miracle in Houston. The sleet that feel near Austin?


More winter weather than an average Texas winter, even if not another flake or freezing drizzle droplet falls.

[Portastorm]

Portastorm puts both hands on the poker table and shoves all his chips to the kitty in the middle.

I'm in. Winter south of I-20 in Texas, whatever it was, is over. What a sorry, pathetic season.

You forget the December 10th snow miracle in Houston. The sleet that feel near Austin?


More winter weather than an average Texas winter, even if not another flake or freezing drizzle droplet falls.

Good sir, I did not forget that two-day period in December. I was fortunate to be in both cities during both events, not to mention an extremely bumpy Southwest flight from AUS to HOU the morning of the 10th (no doubt flying through that upper level energy that caused the weather).

However, one day of "event" is not enough for me to call it a winter. We had a few cold mornings but nothing terribly unusual. We had one event. In both cities it lasted several hours and then it was over.

Sorry but I was never much for one-night stands!

[southerngale]

LOL Portastorm.

Well, it was quite a memorable winter for me. Anytime I see snow and specifically the most snow I've ever gotten, it's a great winter! We got snow the night of the 10th and the morning of the 11th and it lasted a lot longer than just several hours. In fact, our snowman, and/or parts of him, stayed around for days.

I do understand what you're saying, but the December snow event was amazing here, so for me, this winter was awesome. We usually don't see any snow, so to set records was just incredible.

I do hope you have better winter weather next season. But now that you've put all your chips in, you know what's going to happen.

[Texas Snowman]

Kind of reminds me of Ed's pronouncement last year that hurricane season was over for Texas!

Lucy is at this moment gathering her football and tee. Up in Alaska, a chilly change is in the air. Down in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, moisture is gathering. Will they collide over Texas before Old Man Winter hibernates for another year? Everyone stay tuned!

[double D]

This is the second year in a row where there hasn't been much of a winter in Texas (at least in the Austin area).

I'm already getting spring fever as the Mountain Laruel's are already budding out.

Maybe next year, there will be more action and I can post more than 5 times during the winter months .

[jinftl]

Interesting that the 'winter' snow event took place technically while it was still autumn according to the calendar

Portastorm puts both hands on the poker table and shoves all his chips to the kitty in the middle.

I'm in. Winter south of I-20 in Texas, whatever it was, is over. What a sorry, pathetic season.

You forget the December 10th snow miracle in Houston. The sleet that feel near Austin?


More winter weather than an average Texas winter, even if not another flake or freezing drizzle droplet falls.

[Ed Mahmoud]

On another thread, Jason pointed out something Joe Bastardi has mentioned also.


Meteorologsists apparently don't go by the astronomic seasons, Winter is December, January and February, the three coldest months.


When the Easter miracle snow fell near Dallas in 2007, I doubt the NWS put out a "Spring Weather Advisory, even though it was Spring by every conceivable definition.


Not sure which I will love and treasure more, the over an inch on December 10, or the 2004 Christmas Eve Miracle Snow, which fell on Christmas Eve, but only dusted cars and elevated foliage.

Well, the February 7, 1978 2 feet or so blizzard in Massapequa, NY cancelling 5 days of school, 5 days, but it was forecast, two weeks earlier, just one missed day of school for thirteen inches, but going to bed with Dr. Frank Fields (a medical doctor, not a met) on WNBC saying the snow then falling was about to change to rain, but it never did.

Only 1 day missed, but it was a surprise.

[Texas Snowman]

And while this was too far north to do any of you South and Central Texas posters any good, we had up to 17" of snow in Sherman/Denison last year during the first full week of March.

Got six to eight inches on the first snow that week (the night of March 3rd and morning of March 4th). During the afternoon of March 6th, we got nine inches of new snow.

And somewhere in years gone by (back when I was in high school in the early 1980s), we had a mid-March blue norther rip through here one day when temps were pushing the upper 70s. By the next morning, there was two to three inches of snow on the ground.

So, even though we had a killer tornado in my backyard this week, I'm not ready to cash in my winter weather chips up here in the Red River Valley just yet.

[jinftl]

At least 3 definitions or usages of term 'winter':

From wikipedia:
Astronomically, winter starts with the winter solstice and ends with the vernal equinox (#1)—though in popular usage, the word "winter" is more often defined by cold weather. By this definition (#2), it would be approximated by the calendar months of June, July, and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January, and February in the Northern Hemisphere. By still another definition (#3), the seasons are not seen as quarters of the year but as elastic periods in a particular place determined by the weather; winter, by that reckoning, runs from when the weather turns decidedly cold until a definite warming trend begins.

Thus it could be said that winter is over (#3 definition) if a definite warming trend has begun even though it is still winter (using definition #1 and #2).

[vbhoutex]

At least 3 definitions or usages of term 'winter':

From wikipedia:
Astronomically, winter starts with the winter solstice and ends with the vernal equinox (#1)—though in popular usage, the word "winter" is more often defined by cold weather. By this definition (#2), it would be approximated by the calendar months of June, July, and August in the Southern Hemisphere and December, January, and February in the Northern Hemisphere. By still another definition (#3), the seasons are not seen as quarters of the year but as elastic periods in a particular place determined by the weather; winter, by that reckoning, runs from when the weather turns decidedly cold until a definite warming trend begins.

Thus it could be said that winter is over (#3 definition) if a definite warming trend has begun even though it is still winter (using definition #1 and #2).

My head is spinning.

Winter is over when I think it is over!

[jinftl]

Cool image of snow over Texas in December 2004...a winter event in every possible definition!

[PTrackerLA]

Wow I did not realize the snow stretched all the way to northern Mexico with that event, truly impressive! Count southern LA in on the winter cancel, no signs of winter-like temperatures for the next two weeks it appears. Trees are already coming out with their new leaves around town so it's starting to look like spring for sure. I can't complain about the winter too much, the 1" of snow in December was the most I've seen here since the 1980's and it was a great surprise to wake up to!

[Ed Mahmoud]

Winter isn't over in Lamesa, Texas!

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0111
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0912 AM CST SAT FEB 14 2009

AREAS AFFECTED...WRN TX

CONCERNING...FREEZING RAIN

VALID 141512Z - 141745Z

LOCALIZED FREEZING RAIN WITH PASSING THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER
PORTIONS OF WRN TX THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS.

A ZONE OF LOW LVL WAA LOCATED ALONG A LINE FROM LTS SW TO MAF WILL
BE MAINTAINED DURING MUCH OF THE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. STEEP
MID LVL LAPSE RATES /7.9 C PER KM IN THE 700-500 MB LAYER PER MAF
OBSERVED SOUNDING/ COMBINED WITH SUBTLE MOISTURE INFLUX ABOVE A
SHALLOW SUBFREEZING SURFACE LAYER IS YIELDING SUFFICIENT MUCAPE
/AROUND 500 J PER KG/ FOR ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS. OBSERVED AND
FORECAST SOUNDINGS...ALONG WITH SURFACE OBSERVATIONS...INDICATE A
RATHER DRY BOUNDARY LAYER. HOWEVER...ENHANCED PRECIPITATION RATES
WITH PASSING THUNDERSTORMS MAY RESULT IN SUFFICIENT WET BULB
COOLING/MOISTENING FOR RAIN TO REACH THE GROUND. GIVEN THE SHALLOW
SUBFREEZING LAYER...PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL BE FREEZING RAIN.

..GARNER.. 02/14/2009

Snyder, Texas reporting thunderstorm with "unknown precip" and 28ºF.

Kind of nippy even here in the Houston area, down to 60ºF, but with a raw Northeast breeze and overcast skies, it felt like 50º.